McCabe & Mrs. Miller
starring: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois, William Devane, John Schuck
directed by: Robert Altman
directed by: Robert Altman
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Product Description:
Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 06/03/2003Run time: 121 minutesRating: R
Amazon.com essential video:
Iconoclastic director Robert Altman (Nashville, M.A.S.H.), deconstructs and demythologizes Hollywood's typically romantic vision of the Old West in this haunting, breathtaking masterpiece. A stranger, McCabe (Warren Beatty's best performance), the film's nonheroic protagonist, rides into a dead northwest mountain town (to the mournful sounds of Leonard Cohen), possessing ambitious entrepreneurial dreams of expansion. As the town grows, Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie's finest role, as well), a tough madam, arrives and convinces McCabe to join her in a partnership. Neither are typical Western archetypes: McCabe's an insecure braggart, bumbling lover, and horrible businessman, while Mrs. Miller, hardly a whore with a heart of gold, favors her opium pipe to her partner's romantic advances. Altman, meanwhile, buries these central characters within the town's complex, richly detailed tapestry of characters, preferring to eavesdrop on their overlapping conversations and study the bleak, harsh conditions of their lifestyles. At its core, the film addresses the sacrifices of individualism needed in order to build a community, an American concept that the independent Altman views with skeptical irony. The inevitable final shoot-out underscores the theme. Because McCabe refuses to sell the town he built to a corporation, hired bounty hunters are sent. Instead of a showdown at high noon, the finale--one of Altman's most beautiful set pieces--takes place in the snow, guerilla warfare style. As McCabe runs and hides for his life, the town he created preoccupies itself with saving a burning church instead of their creator, while Mrs. Miller, stoned and grinning, detaches herself from either concern. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond captures the town's brutal textures in luminous Cinemascope. --Dave McCoy
Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 06/03/2003Run time: 121 minutesRating: R
Amazon.com essential video:
Iconoclastic director Robert Altman (Nashville, M.A.S.H.), deconstructs and demythologizes Hollywood's typically romantic vision of the Old West in this haunting, breathtaking masterpiece. A stranger, McCabe (Warren Beatty's best performance), the film's nonheroic protagonist, rides into a dead northwest mountain town (to the mournful sounds of Leonard Cohen), possessing ambitious entrepreneurial dreams of expansion. As the town grows, Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie's finest role, as well), a tough madam, arrives and convinces McCabe to join her in a partnership. Neither are typical Western archetypes: McCabe's an insecure braggart, bumbling lover, and horrible businessman, while Mrs. Miller, hardly a whore with a heart of gold, favors her opium pipe to her partner's romantic advances. Altman, meanwhile, buries these central characters within the town's complex, richly detailed tapestry of characters, preferring to eavesdrop on their overlapping conversations and study the bleak, harsh conditions of their lifestyles. At its core, the film addresses the sacrifices of individualism needed in order to build a community, an American concept that the independent Altman views with skeptical irony. The inevitable final shoot-out underscores the theme. Because McCabe refuses to sell the town he built to a corporation, hired bounty hunters are sent. Instead of a showdown at high noon, the finale--one of Altman's most beautiful set pieces--takes place in the snow, guerilla warfare style. As McCabe runs and hides for his life, the town he created preoccupies itself with saving a burning church instead of their creator, while Mrs. Miller, stoned and grinning, detaches herself from either concern. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond captures the town's brutal textures in luminous Cinemascope. --Dave McCoy
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Altman Agonistes
If you like Altman, you may like this, but Christie is horribly miscast as the female lead and Beatty, as the male lead, might as well have "mailed in" his performance.With Altman, it's not so much about the actors as it is Altman.
This was agonizing, although possibly not as agonizing as Buffalo Bill and the Indians.
As usual, Altman takes two hours to express his cynical view of the world.So tiresome . . . .
Rating: 
- Strong performances can't really save this messy and uninteresting film...
Robert Altman is an acquired taste for me.It never fails that I either love or hate his work.I am a firm believer in the idea that `Short Cuts' is one of the greatest films of all time, and I truly adored `The Player' and to a lesser degree `Gosford Park'.I thought I liked `A Prairie Home Companion' until it got about halfway through and the script fell to pieces and I now practically loathe it (aside from Streep who was all kinds of superb there).He has a very unique brand of filming (I ... Read More
Rating: 
- Warning: Poor Image Quality
A five star film for story, cinematography and music.However, the image quality fo the transfer is very problematic. There is a "grain" on many of the shots which is not film grain.Film grain constantly changes instant by instant as the individual silver halide particles in each frams differs.By contrast, on this trsnsfer, the "grain" is unchanging, static and persists between shots.It is almost as if the film was processed through a screen when striking the final master (which may be true, ... Read More
Rating: 
- My Favorite Western!
It's Altman at his best, with a cast that clearly believed in him and relished the opportunity to be directed by him. This movie is as close to cinematic poetry as you're ever gonna get. Altman demonstrates his gift and mastery at mood, texture and tone, while skillfully adding rich layers of nuance and wit to this somewhat simple tale of a complex man -- or is McCabe a simple man in a complex tale? Beatty and Christie are nothing less than inspirational, and Carradine makes me cry (his earnest commitment ... Read More
Rating: - Brilliant!
I loved this film when I saw it when it first came out.The combination of Beatty and Christie, who were an item at the time, assured its success with a lot of people.I wondered how I'd react to it now, so many years later.I was happy that, although it didn't have the huge emotional impact that it did on my first viewing, I still enjoyed every moment and was again genuinely moved by it.
The story is relatively simple.The enjoyment, I think, for me, is largely visual.The cinematography ... Read More
- Altman AgonistesIf you like Altman, you may like this, but Christie is horribly miscast as the female lead and Beatty, as the male lead, might as well have "mailed in" his performance.With Altman, it's not so much about the actors as it is Altman.
This was agonizing, although possibly not as agonizing as Buffalo Bill and the Indians.
As usual, Altman takes two hours to express his cynical view of the world.So tiresome . . . .
- Strong performances can't really save this messy and uninteresting film...Robert Altman is an acquired taste for me.It never fails that I either love or hate his work.I am a firm believer in the idea that `Short Cuts' is one of the greatest films of all time, and I truly adored `The Player' and to a lesser degree `Gosford Park'.I thought I liked `A Prairie Home Companion' until it got about halfway through and the script fell to pieces and I now practically loathe it (aside from Streep who was all kinds of superb there).He has a very unique brand of filming (I ... Read More
- Warning: Poor Image QualityA five star film for story, cinematography and music.However, the image quality fo the transfer is very problematic. There is a "grain" on many of the shots which is not film grain.Film grain constantly changes instant by instant as the individual silver halide particles in each frams differs.By contrast, on this trsnsfer, the "grain" is unchanging, static and persists between shots.It is almost as if the film was processed through a screen when striking the final master (which may be true, ... Read More
- My Favorite Western!It's Altman at his best, with a cast that clearly believed in him and relished the opportunity to be directed by him. This movie is as close to cinematic poetry as you're ever gonna get. Altman demonstrates his gift and mastery at mood, texture and tone, while skillfully adding rich layers of nuance and wit to this somewhat simple tale of a complex man -- or is McCabe a simple man in a complex tale? Beatty and Christie are nothing less than inspirational, and Carradine makes me cry (his earnest commitment ... Read More
- Brilliant!I loved this film when I saw it when it first came out.The combination of Beatty and Christie, who were an item at the time, assured its success with a lot of people.I wondered how I'd react to it now, so many years later.I was happy that, although it didn't have the huge emotional impact that it did on my first viewing, I still enjoyed every moment and was again genuinely moved by it.
The story is relatively simple.The enjoyment, I think, for me, is largely visual.The cinematography ... Read More
